


Pomegranates and Wine

by SmuttyWorks (GoldenHero)



Series: Stalker Series [1]
Category: The Boy (2016 Bell), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Dubious Morality, Heavy Petting, Horror, Knives, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Religion Kink, Smut, Southern Gothic, Stalking, Thriller, Unhealthy Relationships, Unsafe Sex, but only for a second, cult shit, farming, farms, fruit symbolism, it doesnt really matter to the story, sorta?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-06 23:10:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18398264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenHero/pseuds/SmuttyWorks
Summary: Taehyung moves into his grandmother's farmhouse in order to take care of it while she's away. Soon, however, strange things begin happening and Taehyung starts to think that he's not alone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to Beta this work, please contact me at purelywritingforao3@gmail.com.

Taehyung couldn’t get over how Daegu looked. Compared to where he lived in New York, it was so rural and small and so...

 

_ Big.  _

 

Taehyung, currently seated in an uncomfortable bus seat, looked out the dirt speckled window as they drove past fields of rice, corn, and a few farms. 

 

He had only been to his Grandmothers house a handful of times when he was younger, and he could barely remember any of it. Everything here felt familiar, and it made the ache in his chest feel a little lighter. 

 

Being sent to a whole other country by his mother and father, who was just far too busy to take care of Taehyung’s ailing grandmother, was a jarring experience. 

 

He frowned to himself, looking down at his phone. It was a new one since his old one had been smashed by his father in a drunken rage, and he was unhappy to find that he had no service. 

 

Well, how would he have service all the way out here? There wasn’t anything out here! He breathed out a deep breath and pocketed his phone, taking a look around the bus. 

 

There was no one but him and the bus driver. Anyone who had been on with them had gotten off at other areas, but not before giving Taehyung a weird look. Taehyung was used to weird looks. He got them all the time in America for being a tall, handsome guy, and he assumed that that was the same reason people looked at him here. 

 

He blinked slowly, exhaling a short breath and looking out the window again. In the distance, he could see a massive mansion. He sat up straighter, a feeling of nostalgia ringing through his mind as the bus inched closer to the massively long driveway, and then stopped at the bus stop. 

 

He got up quickly, grabbing his suitcase and his purse and walked to the front of the bus. 

 

“Hey,” the bus driver grunted. He was an old man with a receding hairline and dark beetle-black eyes, “are you Grandma Kim’s kid?” 

 

Taehyung paused from where he was about to leave the bus. “Uh, no, I’m his grandson,” he corrected politely, “I’m watching the house for her since she’s at the hospital.”   
  


The bus driver hummed, his eyebrows furrowing, “ah, she’s been in bad condition for years,” he murmured, “shame that her son hasn’t come down.”

 

Taehyung made a face, nodding, “yeah, they’re busy this time of year,” he shrugged, “I’m happy to watch the house! I haven’t been here in years, so it’s a nice refresher.”

 

The bus driver hummed again, nodding, “yes, yes. That does sound nice. Have a good day.”

 

Taehyung bowed shortly and got off the bus, clutching his bags close to his body as he stepped out onto the slightly overgrown concrete. He frowned, listening to the bus groan as it started again and roll off, his lips pursed slightly. 

 

The walk to the house itself had to be a good half a mile, and he inwardly groaned about not having a bike or a car. Oh well. He started walking, trailing his suitcase behind him as he moved along. 

 

The concrete was surprisingly stable for how long it had been here, and although there were weeds popping up in some spots, Taehyung knew some simple garden care would have it looking much better. 

 

Although he didn’t remember much about his grandmother, the one thing he kept with him in his memory was the massive fields of Blackberries. His grandmother farmed them every year, and Taehyung remembered baking pies with her vaguely. 

 

He was panting slightly by the time he reached the porch and sat down on the creaky wooden steps with a huff. The beginning of summer was always hot, he thought to himself as he wiped some sweat from his brow, he just had to prepare better for it. 

 

With a deep breath, he reached into one of the pockets of his purse and brought up a key. It was the key to the house, and as he ran his thumb over the slightly rusted key, he felt an odd sensation of being watched. 

 

He looked up, looking out into the tall fields of grass that surrounded the home, but he saw nothing. No one would be out here, and if they were...Taehyung shook his head, no. No one was out here. He was fine.

 

He stood up, setting down his bags on the porch as he inserted the key and pushed on the door. It creaked loudly, the rusted joints screaming as he opened it up all the way. 

 

The entrance of the house was just as Taehyung remembered it. Wooden floors slightly warped from use, furniture placed neatly around the room, and the large white painted staircase that led upstairs. 

 

He dragged his things inside and closed the front door behind him. He pulled out his phone, pulling up the list that his mother had sent him to abide by. 

 

  1. _In the morning, make sure all of the lights are off. Close and lock the windows and doors._
  2. _When you go to school, take the bus from there and back. Do not get a ride in someone's car._
  3. _The blackberries must be picked daily. Store them in the fridge._
  4. _On the weekends make some of the berries into jam for the market during June._
  5. _Go to bed by 9:30_
  6. _Lights out at 10:00_
  7. _Take care of the dolls in your room._



 

Taehyung wrinkled his nose at the list. It wasn’t the strangest thing his parents have done in a list, but why did he have a curfew? And dolls? What was with that?

 

He closed his phone and looked at the sheet-covered furniture. 

 

Oh well, he better get working. 

 

* * *

 

Two hours later, Taehyung had cleaned the entire downstairs, but he had not yet explored the entire house. The floors were caked in levels of thick smelly grime that took him ages to scrub up, and the walls were just as bad. The windows were covered in dust, and the kitchen was a total mess of dust and dirt. 

 

He sat down heavily on one of the couches, exhaling deeply. 

 

“Fuck,” he breathed, rubbing his forehead. He was covered in dirt and sweat, and he was sure that he smelled horrible. And yet, he still had things to do. 

 

He looked at his phone, cursing quietly under his breath. 

 

12:00 PM. He needed to go out and pick berries before they fermented and became unusable. 

 

“Okay,” he breathed, “let’s go,” he mumbled, getting up. He shuffled to his suitcase, pulling out a light blue scarf and wrapping it around his head. He didn’t bring any of his hats with him, but his grandmother over the years had given him scarves, so loosely wrapping them around his head to shield his skin from the sun was the best thing he could do. 

 

He grabbed a large wicker basket from the kitchen, shook any of the cobwebs that were still in it out, and walked out the back door. 

 

His grandmothers garden was magnificent. 

 

It was massive, stretching two miles long with forty-seven berry bushes. A warm wind blew past Taehyung, and as he took a deep breath, the smell of berries hit his nose. 

 

God, he knew this smell. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew this smell incredibly well. 

 

He stepped down the steps of the back door, quietly looking out at the silent fields. The sun was warm as it beat down on him, and as he walked up to the first bush and started to pick off the plump berries, a sense of calm washed over him. 

 

He brought a berry up to his lips, licking the juice that dripped onto his hand before popping it into his mouth. It was sweet and slightly bitter and left him wanting to eat another one. 

 

But he held back. He had to make jam and pies out of these and wanted as many as possible. He picked the berries that were ripened on the plant and then moved to the next one.

 

He started to quietly hum as he picked flowers, lost in the song as he moved from bush to bush until the basket was halfway full. Before he knew it, he had picked from nearly fifteen of the bushes clean and his basket was nearly full. 

 

He stood up straight, looked at the basket and then shrugged. He must have moved faster than he thought. As he turned back to go to the house, he looked up at one of the high windows and froze. 

 

In the window of what was supposed to be his bedroom was a doll. It was a small one, leaning against the glass and dressed in a dark hanbok. Taehyung put a hand on his chest, taking a deep breath to calm himself. 

 

“It’s just a _doll_ , Tae,” he breathed, “nothing to be scared of.”

 

He looked back to the window, and the doll was still there. He nodded to himself. Yes, it was just a doll. He was all alone in a big house in the middle of nowhere, and he would have to get used to it. 

 

He quickly walked back to the house, setting down the wicker basket on the back porch and picking up the second one before he returned to berry picking. 

 

The berries were still sweet as he took small bites, humming at their taste. He moved along slowly until he reached a rather large bush and as he kneeled down, he came face to face with a rabbit. 

 

A massive fucking rabbit that was eating the berries. Both Taehyung and the rabbit froze, looking at each other. Taehyung held his breath, knowing that any wild animals could and would attack if prompted. 

 

The rabbit’s nose twitched wildly as it looked at Taehyung, its ears flat against its head. Its mouth was stained with purplish reddish juice that looked sickeningly similar to blood. 

 

Taehyung’s thighs trembled in pain from holding himself up for so long and he rocked backwards until he was seated in the dirt. The rabbit didn’t move, then raised a paw and began to rub at its face. 

 

Taehyung watched in awe as the rabbit groomed itself, fussing over its whiskers and cheeks until most of the berry juice was gone. Taehyung slowly reached out his hand, making a quiet clicking sound with his tongue. 

 

The rabbit paused its frantic cleaning to examine the foreign object, sniffing Taehyung’s fingers before lifting its head and rubbing the underside of its jaw along the palm of his hand. 

 

Now, Taehyung didn’t know too much about rabbits, but from the ones he occasionally saw on TV, he knew that some spots underneath the rabbit’s jaw had special scent glands. 

 

He cooed softly, lifting his hand to gently pet the massive rabbit’s ears back. 

 

“Aren’t you just the cutest?” He murmured, “what are you doing all the way out here, you little berry thief?”

 

The rabbit snorted, seeming a little insulted by the accusation, thudded one of its massive back legs against the ground in a loud thudding motion that kicked up dirt so violently that Taehyung sneezed. 

 

The rabbit seemed spooked by the sound, and before Taehyung could do anything more, it turned and darted away leaving Taehyung covered in dirt and still sneezing. 

 

He huffed, rubbing his nose against his shoulder a few times before he stood up. He couldn’t see where the rabbit had gone, but he didn’t particularly want to venture out into the unknown.

 

He sighed, shaking his head and turned back to the berry bushes, continuing the pick of the fruit one by one and collecting them into his basket. 

 

What he didn’t notice was the small pink mark on his palm, shaped in a rose pattern. It glowed faintly before fading away and leaving a faint imprint on his skin. 

 

Nor did he feel the eyes on his back, watching him as he finished picking the berries he could and headed back inside. 


	2. Chapter 2

After Taehyung had washed and dried the fruits and put them away in the fridge, he began to explore the rest of the house. 

 

The stairs were creaky when he set foot on them, but they held surprisingly well considering their age. 

 

As he reached the top of the stairs, the smell of mildew reached his nose and made him gag. Ugh, it was disgusting! 

 

He covered his mouth with his hand, moving down the only hall available. There were nine doors, four on each side of the hall and one at the very end. He moved quickly to the one at the end, knowing that it was his room, and entered. 

 

The room, thankfully, smelled better than the outside. He exhaled softly and looked around the room. 

 

It was large, as master bedrooms often are, with wallpaper covered walls with small flowers. The bed was four posters, with five dolls sitting up propped up by the pillows. The one that had scared him before was still leaning on the window. 

 

He walked over and took it into his hands, looking at it quietly. It was porcelain, with small lips painted a light pink. It had wide blue eyes that opened and closed when he tilted it and had light blonde hair that was tucked into tight curls. 

 

There was a small piece of paper on the doll's chest, and when Taehyung flipped it over to see what was on it, the name _‘J----’_ was written in neat writing. The rest of the letters were faded, so Taehyung couldn’t see them.

 

He hummed, turning back to the bed and setting the doll down next to the others. He picked up the other dolls, quietly looking them over. Each of them had a piece of paper on them, and again the names were faded and unreadable. 

 

He frowned, his lips forming a slight pout. His mother had left him the instructions to take care of the dolls. Whatever that meant. 

 

He took out his phone, his shoulder slumping in relief when it saw that he was connected to a WiFi, and opened up the messaging app. 

 

[3:24 PM]

Eomma <3

**Tae** : Mom?

**Eomma** : Tae-ah!

**Eomma** : Did you make it to the house alright?

**Tae** : I did. I just had a question about something.

**Tae** : What did you mean by taking care of the dolls?

**Eomma** : Oh

**Eomma** : Well. As you know, these dolls are very old. They belonged to your grandmother, so they’re very fragile

**Eomma** : She had some weird superstitions about the dolls, about that land in general, that she wanted you to follow.

**Eomma** : Just make sure the dolls go with you when you eat breakfast and dinner. They have some beds in your room that you have to tuck them into every night and leave a few berries out for every meal.

**Tae** : Why? They’re just dolls

**Eomma** : It’s what she believes, honey. As long as you take good care of the house, there won’t be any big problems. 

**Tae** : Okay. I love you, Mom

**Eomma** : I love you too, baby. Be safe!

 

Taehyung tucked his phone away, rocking back on his heels and exhaling faintly. His mother left him with more questions than answers, and he slightly resented it. 

 

Quietly, he moved the dolls off of the bed and set down his bags. He yawned, rubbing his face a little. He had a lot of work to do before he went to school tomorrow, and as he quietly moved around to get out his clothes from his suitcase and put them away, a feeling of fatigue took over his body.

 

He sighed deeply, looking at the dolls again with narrowed eyes before looking around the room for the beds his mother had talked about. 

 

There were six cradles resting by the closet, and as Taehyung picked up the dolls and tucked them in, something odd happened. 

 

For a second, it seemed like the house was letting go of a breath. He jolted up as the entire house creaked and seemed to move slightly as if it was slouching. After a second, though, it stopped. 

  
  


He frowned to himself, looking to the dolls and shrugged. “Must just be the house settling,” he said to himself, slipping out of his day clothes and getting into bed in just underwear, too tired to take a shower. 

 

As he drifted off to sleep, a warm feeling of something settling into the bed behind him. He didn’t freak out, and instead unconsciously leant back into the touch with his eyes closed and fell asleep.

 

It seemed like he was dreaming for only a second before he was awoken by his alarm loudly going off. He groaned loudly and rolled around, smacking the bed until he found his phone. 

 

He turned off the alarm and slowly sat up, blearily blinking sleep away from his eyes. He yawned, sitting up in bed with a quiet groan. Sunlight was filtering through the window, shining onto his bed. 

 

He grumbled quietly to himself and slid out of bed, tossing his legs over the side. The air was chilly as he got out from under the covers, and he shuddered quietly as he walked over to his wardrobe. 

 

He pulled out his school uniform patting it a few times to fix the wrinkles in the shirt and pants before he pulled them on. He turned around, grabbing his school bag from his suitcase and looking through it. 

 

Yep. He had all his books. He nodded to himself, and zipped up the bag and grabbed his phone. He was about to leave the room when he paused and turned. The dolls were still lying in their beds.

 

He frowned slightly and collected them into his arms and brought them out with him. 

 

He walked downstairs into the kitchen and set the dolls down at the table. They were all just tall enough to have their upper bodies above the table. He set out two plates of berries and looked at his phone and paused. 

 

He had downloaded an app on his phone for updates from his school, and he was surprised to find one now. 

 

_ To all students in the surrounding area: _

_ Due to a gas leak from the downstairs furnace; all classes are cancelled until further notice. Please take this time to enjoy your vacation. _

 

Taehyung hummed, putting his phone down and then sitting at the table. He frowned to himself, looking down at the dolls who were still sitting at the table. 

 

This was weird, but Taehyung wasn’t going to reject time away from school. He sighed, rubbing his face and got up. 

 

“Should I leave you guys to eat?” He asked the dolls, then internally smacked himself, “Taehyung, they can’t talk!” He hissed. 

 

He looked at the dolls again. They looked back, emotionless. 

 

“Fuckin’ creepy,” he muttered under his breath, then reached out and took the berries away from them, dumping them into a container in the fridge. 

 

He froze when the sound of a chair scraping on the floor came out of nowhere. His blood went cold as he slowly turned around and found one of the dolls sitting on the floor.  

 

It was one of the taller dolls, with curly brown hair and doe-like brown eyes. It was smiling, its default state, and was somehow sitting. Taehyung carefully put the bowls down, his eyes not leaving the doll's form. 

 

He approached it slowly, kneeling down in front of it. The Doll looked at him, eyes still wide open. He slowly reached out, his fingers skimming the doll’s face. It was cold, as it usually was and it tilted back when his finger nudged it. 

 

“It’s okay, Taehyung,” he murmured to himself, “it’s just a doll. It can’t hurt you.”

 

He sighed, taking up the doll into his arms and carrying it back to the table. He stopped at the table, frozen in terror as he looked at the empty chairs. Where were the dolls?

 

He turned in a full circle, his heart jumping into his throat when he saw a small foot poking out from behind a corner. He rushed to it, finding one of the dolls. He picked it up, examining it and reading the name on its chest. 

 

_ ‘N--j---’. _

 

He frowned, tucking the doll close to his chest. It was okay. Everything was fine! He just had to find the other dolls. 

 

Moving through the kitchen, he found the blonde-haired doll propped up again against one of the windows, looking out into the blackberry field. 

 

“You again?” He muttered, picking up the doll and holding it like the other ones, “why do you always want to go out?” He asked the doll, looking at its face. 

 

The doll said nothing, just stared back at him blankly. 

 

Taehyung sighed softly, slouching, and continued on. 

 

He found two other dolls, one dressed in hanbok and the other in a sharp-looking suit. 

 

“Okay,” he whispered, looking at the dolls in his arms, “am I missing anyone?” He murmured, counting them. 

 

The blonde doll, the doll with wide eyes, the doll with dimples, the sharp-eyed doll, and the doll with plump lips...

 

He was missing one. 

 

“Fuck,” he whispered under his breath, setting off into the house once more. He went upstairs, looked in every room he could open. Then into the kitchen, where he peeked into all of the cupboards and even the fridge, but there was nothing!

 

He went to the one door he hadn’t visited, the basement door. It was old, with the paint horribly peeling. When he tried to open the door, it didn’t move. Even when he shoved against it, it held fast. 

 

“Ugh,” he grunted, “okay. _Fuck_. It has to be here somewhere!” 

 

It wasn’t, though. He had looked everywhere! He stopped in the kitchen, feeling panic starting to take over his body. Where could it be? He had spent the longest time holding the other dolls in his arms, but still, he couldn’t find it! 

 

He sat down heavily at the kitchen table, setting the dolls down gently. He rubbed his face with his hands, sighing heavily before looking at his phone for the time. 

 

10:40.

 

He had spent nearly two hours looking for one fucking doll. He smacked down his phone and leant back with a groan. He hadn’t even been here a few days, and he already felt like he was fucking dying. 

 

He looked at the other dolls who were still lying on the table. He felt unnerved about them and vaguely wished that he didn’t have to take care of them. This, and them moving around when he looked away even for a second was terrifying. 

 

He picked up his phone again, keeping a wary eye on the dolls as he opened up Google. 

 

How to exorcize an object?

(2,123,123 hits)

Ugh.

How to tell if an object is haunted?

(843,234,452 hits)

Maybe??

 

Taehyung clicked on a link and skimmed through the article for a couple of seconds before he clicked out of it. 

 

None of this was making any sense. He sighed quietly under his breath and pushed his phone away. He picked up the dolls again and climbed the stairs to the second floor. So what if he couldn’t find one of the dolls. He probably just put it down somewhere and forgot where it was. 

 

Yeah... That was it. He sighed, running his fingers through the short blonde hair of one of the dolls. Quietly he walked into his bedroom and set the dolls on the bed. He laid on the bed, and without getting under the blankets, laid down and fell asleep. 


End file.
